Sports

Sports

Sports Brief: Swimmers sink to back of pack at George Mason Invitational

By Jesse Epstein | December 2

AU's Swimming and Diving teams placed eighth and 10th, respectively, in the George Mason Invitational this past weekend, in Fairfax, Va. The men's team placed eighth in the 11-team tournament, while the women finished 10th. The highlights for the teams were junior Valery Fomenko's seventh-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke, and Joe Eberhart's 12th-place finish in the 200-meter breaststroke.

---

Sports

Ladies take three straight

By Jesse Epstein | December 2

The AU Women's Basketball team had a lot to be thankful for this week, as it won all three games over Thanksgiving break to run its record to an impressive 4-1 in nonconference play. The Eagles defended their home court, beating Mount St. Mary's, 67-52, on Nov. 24 and winning a 74-63 overtime thriller over Loyola College of Maryland last Friday before Sunday's 48-46 victory in Asheville, N.C., against the University of North Carolina- Asheville.

---

Sports

B-Ball wins 2nd straight

By Jesse Epstein | December 2

After a heartbreaking start to the season, the Men's Basketball team evened its record to 2-2 after an impressive 71-65 victory over St. Francis at Bender Arena on Monday night. The win avenged the Eagles' loss last year at St. Francis. The Eagles were led by the scoring duo of Andre Ingram and Raimondas Petrauaskas, who combined for 35 points, while Patrick Okpwae and Jason Thomas chipped in with 12 and 10, respectively.

---

Sports

XC places 20th

By Ian Quillen | December 2

The AU Men's Cross-Country team finally returned to the national stage after a 33-year absence, placing 20th in the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. The Eagles qualified to be part of the 30-team field by finishing second in the Mid-Atlantic regional meet on Nov. 13 in State College, Pa.

---

Sports

Sideline Scholars: No win, no job

By Ian Quillen | December 2

After pressure from students, fans and big-money donors became too much for Notre Dame to ignore, the university fired football coach Tyrone Willingham on Tuesday, apparently because the university bigheads still envision the Fighting Irish as a football team that should be among the nation's elite every year. Willingham's 21-15 record over three seasons, including a 6-5 mark this year against what was among the nation's toughest schedules, simply didn't cut it, despite upset wins over Michigan and Tennessee this year.

---

Sports

Soccer falls, 2-1, in round 2

By Ian Quillen | December 2

Come tournament time, soccer games are often decided by the smallest of margins. One mistake or one lucky break can often mean a game-winning goal or a game-changing play. But in AU's second-round clash with Virginia in the NCAA Men's Soccer tournament on Nov. 23, the irony was that it was a Virginia mistake - a mid-hit cross - that turned into Virginia's lucky break - a deceptive cross that fooled AU senior 'keeper Thomas Myers and snuck in the net's top corner for a crucial game-tying goal.

---

Sports

Eagle runners finish 20th at NCAA finals

By Ian Quillen | December 2

The AU Men's Cross-Country team finally returned to the national stage after a 33-year absence, placing 20th in the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. The Eagles qualified to be part of the 30-team field by finishing second in the Mid-Atlantic regional meet on Nov. 13 in State College, Pa. Also at the championships, AU Women's Cross-Country runner Keira Carlstrom finished 17th out of a field of 250 individuals, finishing the 6-kilometer race in 20:49.8. Carlstrom also qualified for the championships in Sate College, taking second place at that regional in a time of 20:37.

---

Sports

Sports Brief: Wrestling advances three to national rankings in weekend

By David Bergman | December 2

This weekend at Lock Haven University's Mat-Town Invitational, the AU Wrestling team took fifth place among the nation's top teams. Junior Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov took first place at 157 pounds this weekend, upsetting three-time All-American and last year's national tournament runner-up, Jake Percival of Ohio University, by medical default. Percival has a history against AU, notably beating AU's career wins record-holder alumnus Marc Hoffer ('02) in 2001.

---

Sports

Sports Brief: Scoring drought against Niagara dooms Men's Bball to second straight loss

By Jesse Epstein | November 22

The AU Men's Basketball team suffered its second straight road defeat Saturday night, falling to Niagara, 78-71. The Eagles were led by center Matej Cresnik, who scored 17 points, and Raimondas Petrauskas, who netted 16 on 7-of-10 shooting.

---

Sports

Bball women show their will

By Jesse Epstein | November 22

The American University Women's Basketball team opened Bender Arena for the season with an astounding 78-59 win over William & Mary on Sunday. The Eagles were paced by a balanced scoring attack, led by senior center Kim Salem, who tied her career-high with 17 points. Senior Joanna Barnes scored 13, Tala Hadavi scored 11 and Tara Williams came off the bench to score 10 for AU.

---

Sports

Volleyball completes four undefeated years in PL

By Ian Quillen | November 22

Four years ago, six freshmen entered the AU Volleyball program as it was transitioning from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Patriot League. This weekend, those freshmen, now seniors, capped off the final chapter in a perfect PL career. The AU Volleyball team defeated Army, 3-0, in the Patriot League championship on Saturday night at Bender Arena, winning the three games 30-23, 30-28 and 30-21, and clinching a fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance.

---

Sports

Sideline Scholars: NBA soils opportunity with poor players

By David Bergman | November 22

There are a series of Budweiser advertisements on television that feature a fake sports star named Leon. Leon is the epitome of the spoiled-brat superstar, going as far as to pass up his at-bat to wait for a check to clear. The ads are meant to poke fun at what sports have become through an exaggerated character. Unfortunately, this character exists in real life. On Friday night, the Indiana Pacers were coming to the end of a pitiful defeat at the hands of the current world champion Detroit Pistons. With about 45 seconds to go, the Pacers' Ron Artest committed a hard foul under the basket against Detroit's Ben Wallace. Wallace overreacted, but what happened next was one of the most unbelievable displays of unsportsmanlike conduct ever witnessed in sports.

---

Sports

Soccer storms to second round

By Ian Quillen | November 22

For the first 15 minutes of Saturday's NCAA first-round game, Long Island University looked like a team that might crush the Eagles' aspirations of a second-round date with Virginia. Over the next 75 minutes, though, LIU turned into merely another name underneath the Eagles' win column.

---

Sports

Three wrestlers take first at Keystone as team places 3rd overall

By Ian Quillen | November 22

The AU Wrestling team turned in its best performance in recent memory Saturday, seizing three individual first-place finishes en route to a third-place team finish at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia. AU ended the meet with 89.5 points with only seven of its 10 wrestlers competing, behind No. 23 Rider, which won with 141 points, and host No. 20 Pennsylvania, which came in second with a score of 105.5.

---

Sports

Team's Hart gone, but McFerrin ready to play

By Jesse Epstein | November 18

Athletic Director Joni Comstock was at the women's Final Four last year. On a scouting trip. Instead of watching UConn romp, she watched her future head coach, Melissa McFerrin, lead the Minnesota Golden Gophers to national prominence. Comstock looked to make a splash with her first major hire as athletic director, and if she has anything to say about it, Eagles backers may still be drying themselves off, as McFerrin looks to be the gem that AU knew it was getting.

---

Sports

Basketball falls in season opener to Richmond at NIT

By Ian Quillen | November 18

The AU Men's Basketball team dropped its season opener at Virginia Commonwealth in overtime Monday, 82-76, in a preseason National Invitational Tournament first-round game that had more than its share of mixed messages. For sophomore guard Andre Ingram, it was his first game in his hometown of Richmond, Va., since his high school career. And despite being subjected to heckling from some of his hometown fans, the guard was obviously inspired, scoring a career-high 38 points.

---

Sports

Soccer will take on LIU in Round 1

By Ian Quillen | November 18

With only one loss in its last 12 matches, advancing past the first round and deep into the NCAA tournament is a realistic goal for the AU Men's Soccer team (14-5-2). Now, knowing it will return to Reeves Field for its first-round encounter, a 1 p.m. Saturday tilt with Long Island (9-6-4), the reality of a second-round clash with No. 4 seed Virginia on Tuesday is within reach.

---